What Are Common Types of Phobias?
The most common type of phobia is social phobia, which is a persistent fear of humiliation or embarrassment in certain social situations. Closely connected to social phobia is agoraphobia (literally “fear of the marketplace”), which is the fear of being in a place or situations where escape might be difficult or embarrassing. People suffering from agora-phobia believe they might suddenly develop a panic attack. To cope, those with agoraphobia simply avoid any difficult situations, or endure them with anxiety. Other specific phobias such as arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, or hydrophobia, fear of water, can lead people to avoid specific situations, where they might be confronted by frightening stimuli.
